Private Vows
by nabikitendos
Summary: Akane and Ranma know how hard it is to get married. So when they finally decide to tie the knot they need to figure out how to get it done without the Wrecking Crew finding out. Knowing their luck, though, that's not likely to happen.
1. In Which There Is A Proposal

Akane groaned as she woke up that morning, struggling under the heavy weight on her chest and the limbs wrapped around her body. She looked down at the lump that was her fiance snoring away on her chest and sighed. Usually she would be happy to stay in bed and cuddle with Ranma, but she slacked off on her workout routine for the past several days and she needed to get back into rhythm. She tried to wiggle her way out of his grasp but only managed to free her arm that was trapped between her body and the arm that was wrapped around her. Judging by the fact that he didn't even stir, it was going to be difficult to get him up. She grabbed his arms to try and unwrap them from her torso but he just tightened his hold on to her.

"Ranmaaa," Akane whined. "Get off of me." Ranma just groaned and burrowed his head into her neck. _Well, at least he moved,_ she thought.

Akane turned her head towards her alarm clock. 5:58 am. She should have been getting ready for her jog by now, but with how cozy Ranma was, it was going to be a challenge.. Though when wasn't she willing to accept a challenge? She lifted herself and Ranma by her elbows and made sure her legs were wrapped around his, and flipped both of them over onto his back. He barely even twitched at that but his hold on her remained strong. Akane collapsed onto him and huffed, thinking up her next move. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head and she grinned. She brought her fingers to his waist and squeezed.

Ranma screeched as he woke up, right into Akane's ear.

"Ranma, what the hell?!" Akane shouted.

"Why would you do that?!" He shouted back.

"I think I'm deaf in my left ear now!"

"Well, that's your fault!"

Then, the wall next to them was pounded on from the next room.

"Would you both shut up!" Nabiki yelled through the wall.

The two of them remained silent for a moment as they stared at the wall.

"Well, I guess we've been discovered," Ranma said, nonchalantly.

"So much for staying low-key," Akane deadpanned. "Way to go."

"Hey you're the one who woke me up!"

"You're gonna wake up Nabiki again," she hissed.

"Nabiki already knows about us, who cares?"

"Whatever, just shut up and let me get ready." Akane climbed out of her bed and started to yank off her pajamas. There was a time that Akane would have absolutely refuse to let Ranma in the same room while she changed, but now, even knowing that he was watching her change, she didn't mind. Sleeping together does that to you, she guessed.

They've considered themselves as being together for several months now, though their friends say they're practically an old married couple since they first met about 2 years ago. Akane couldn't see it. When she pictured an old couple she imagined 2 cute old people that were cuddly and called each other cute nicknames and didn't bicker constantly. While it sounded nice, she couldn't imagine her and Ranma like that and she was perfectly happy with that.

No one really knew about their actual relationship, with the exception of Kasumi and Nabiki and Akane's friends, much to the chagrin of Ranma and the former, but god forbid if Akane keep something from her best friends. They didn't want to be constantly fight off suitors, especially since things have finally calmed down some after Jusenkyo and the failed wedding. And they especially didn't want their parents planning another wedding behind their backs.

Ranma sat up and watched Akane get dressed. Mornings were probably his favorite time of day, when no one in the house was awake but the two of them and he could be open to how much he adored Akane. He admired the way she looked in the morning with her hair messy and sticking up in the back. He loved how her eyes gleamed in the early light that came through her bedroom window. He was completely entranced by her movements just for getting dresses. He might not admit to this, but he could watch her for the rest of his life.

 _Now there's an idea._

"Are you doing anything today?" He asked, watching her put on her tank top.

"Just studying, I suppose. I've got some exams coming up. Why do you ask?"

"I wanna get married."

Akane froze with her tank top over her head. She turned her head to stare at him sitting up on the bed, expecting to see some smug grin on Ranma's face or for him to burst out laughing at the stupid look on her face or something besides the serious look he was giving her. She tried to say something or at least produce some kind of sound, but nothing came out.

"You gonna say anything, Akane?" AKane just kept staring with her mouth flapping open. "You should probably put your shirt on all the way and close your mouth, you look like an idiot."

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh that's what gets you talking?"

"Are you joking," Akane whisper-yelled.

"Why would I joke about that?" Ranma replied, sounding like he was starting to lose his patience.

"Why wouldn't you? I swear, Ranma if you're joking-"

"I'm not joking!" He said, looking as serious as he could possibly be.

Akane hesitated. Akane knew the risk of wanting to get married. Much as they tried to get rid of them, their suitors were as stubborn as ever and after the first wedding disaster, Akane was worried about planning another one, especially since she knew their families would plan something big, something neither of them wanted.

"We can't." Akane turned around and continued getting dressed.

"What do you mean we can't? We're engaged, aren't we?" Ranma asked, standing up and following her around the room.

"Do you really want to deal with our families planning some big wedding for us? You know we'll have no say in it! And speaking of weddings what about what happened last time we tried getting married? Look how that ended!" Akane said while she put on her running shorts.

"I'm not saying that we get married in 6 months or a year or something. I'm saying that we get married today. As in right now." She gave him a funny look but he didn't let up. "Look, we can go down to the courthouse and get married. It'll be quick and easy."

Akane glared at him and put her hands on her hips. "I haven't even said yes, yet. Besides we aren't 20. We'd have to get our parents to approve of-"

Ranma stopped her. "Who do you think got us engaged in the first place?"

"Again, do you remember the last wedding?" Akane nearly yelled. Ranma lunged at her and covered her mouth with his hands.

"Would you shut up!" He hissed. "You'll wake the entire house."

Akane glared at him and licked his hand. Ranma's hands flew in the air. "Agh!"

"Don't you ever do that again, Ranma!" She hissed back.

"Then be quiet!"

Akane shook her head. This was getting them nowhere. "Anyways, my point being our fathers will get excited and start planning another wedding and invite all of Nerima and it will get crashed by our suitors. Again!" By this point, she was pacing around the room. "Even though I want to get married, there'll be so much trouble and shouldn't we be dealing with our suitors in the first place? I mean, then we could get married but we've been trying for the past year to stop them-"

Ranma cut off her rambling. "Wait, did you say you want to get married?"

"Well, yeah."

Ranma went down on his knees with the goofiest smile he could muster on his face. "Then let's do this! We'll go to the other side of town and we'll make our families swear to be quiet about it." He grabbed at Akane's hands. "C'mon, Akane, it'll be great."

Akane squeezed Ranma's hands and smiled. "Alright, let's do this."

Ranma jumped back up to his feet and shouted in victory as he grabbed Akane by the waist and spun her around, making Akane laugh. The next thing they knew, the bedroom door slammed open and Nabiki stood in the doorway, looking frazzled and as pissed off as could be.

"You two better have a damn good reason to be screaming at 6 in the fucking morning," she said venomously. "Kasumi and I have been really good about keeping your little affair under wraps and the least you could do is be a little subtle and not be shouting at the crack of dawn."

"We're getting married!" said Akane.

"...What?"

An hour later, with the rest of the house now awake and sitting around the kotatsu for breakfast, Ranma and Akane began to feel the nerves creep up on them. The two of them knew that their plan wouldn't progress if their parents didn't know, but the idea of their reaction, though they both knew it would be a positive one, still worried them. Nabiki sat across from them still looking dumbfounded by the news. Akane glanced at Ranma and reached for his hand underneath the table. They might as well get it over with.

Akane took a deep breath before she spoke. "Ranma and I have something we'd like to say." Everyone turned towards them with extreme interest, catching Akane off guard. Akane hesitated to continue, but felt Ranma squeeze her hand.

"Akane and I are getting married today," Ranma declared and braced himself for the storm that was about to happen.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, taking in what was just said. Then, all at once, as if a switched were flipped, the room exploded. Kasumi lept up and nearly tackled Ranma and Akane into a hug, out of character from her usual demure attitude.

"I'm so proud of you two for figuring this out!" She said as she squeezed the two of them.

Soun and Genma cried on each others shoulders saying things like "It's finally happening, Saotome," and "The schools will finally be united, Tendo!"

Nodoka crooned, "Ranma, you're finally taking action like the man you are, I'm so proud of you both."

Nabiki kept on eating.

This continued for the next couple of minutes. Kasumi started to plan a special dinner in honor of the announcement with Nodoka. Soun and Genma began to plan for a grand wedding with Nabiki poking in occasionally with what could fit inside their budget. This was when Ranma and Akane began to panic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ranma intervened. "We're not having any kind of big wedding. We're just going down to the courthouse and signing some papers and we need you two," he gestured to Soun and Genma, "to approve of it."

"Which is the only reason we actually told you at all," Akane muttered under her breath. "And another thing, none of you can tell anyone about what's going on. We don't want a repeat of what happened last year."

The memory of the failed wedding still haunted the Tendo household. With the cost of damages, the post-suitor-attack-clean-up, the lack of an actual marriage, and Happosai drinking the remains of the Spring of Drowned Man, any mention of the wedding became taboo.

(No one is entirely sure what happened to Happosai after the wedding. He seemed to just disappear, but wherever he is, everyone is sure that he is still stealing women's underwear).

Genma started to argue, but every argument he could come up with died in his throat. Instead he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I suppose as long as you two are getting married then it's alright by me."

"I'm so proud of you both for carrying on the schools and the dojo! Thank you both!" Soun continued to cry into his sleeve.

"Can I still make that special dinner tonight?" Kasumi asked.


	2. In Which A Little Piggie Finds Out

"So what's your plan, exactly?" Nabiki finally spoke up.

Ranma looked confused. "Plan for what?"

"It's going to be suspicious if we all just go down to the courthouse as a group. Plus, you know how often we're followed when we leave town." She explained. "How are you going to get there without being stopped?"

"Honestly, we don't all need to go down there," Akane said. "We're just submitting an application. It just needs to be Ranma, Dad, Mr. Saotome, and me."

"Oh, Akane," Kasumi giddily said. "Of course we're all going to go! Like we're going to miss our baby sister's wedding for anything." She clasped her hands together and stared off into the garden. "If I had the time I would have made you a new dress. And maybe fix up that tuxedo of yours, Ranma. Oh maybe we could throw a reception in a few days!" She then got lost in her world, pondering on ideas for dresses and celebrations.

"They can't exactly go walking down the street in a gown and tux." Nabiki remarked, bursting Kasumi's bubble of joy.

"Oh, right..."

"Well, how about I take you girls shopping for a new dress, nothing too fancy, of course," Nodoka said. "Then, you boys can go get ready on your own and we'll meet up at the courthouse."

Akane looked startled. "Really, Auntie, you don't have-"

"Oh, I'd love to come with you, but I really should get the shopping for dinner done." Kasumi interrupted as she stood and dusted off her dress. "What time should I meet you all?"

"Wait a minute-" Akane tried to get out.

"Let's say we'll meet up at the courthouse at noon." Nodoka said.

"I'll meet you all there," Kasumi said as she left the room.

"She left rather quickly," Nabiki noted.

Genma nodded. "It's settled then. We'll take care of Ranma, while you girls get Akane ready and we'll see each other at noon."

Ranma and Akane glanced at each other helplessly. "What do they mean by 'take care?'" Ranma asked. Akane shrugged.

"Wonderful, let's go, Akane, Nabiki." Nodoka stood, followed by Nabiki dragging Akane up.

"Wait, could you hold on?" Nabiki ignored Akane's protests. The younger sister looked to Ranma, her eyes begging him to help her. Ranma was at a loss to what just happened.

Ranma was not the only one feeling lost, however. Ryoga Hibiki sat in a tent in the middle of who-knows-where, eating his ramen and pondering, as he usually does. He thought about Akari, his beautiful girlfriend and how much he missed her love. He hoped that she was doing well and that she didn't miss him too much. Maybe he'd write her a letter today. Hopefully, he could find her again soon.

Then he thought about Akane, his once-loved. Even though he didn't exactly harbour feelings for her anymore and was now with Akari, he still thought of her often. She was the first bright light in the long darkness that overcame his life since he had met Ranma. After being so long in love with her it was hard not to think of her from time to time. Whenever he came back to Tokyo he'd tried to visit her but could never find her or her home, as was the usual. Ryoga put down his instant noodle cup and leaned back on his hands. He wondered what she was up to right now. Did she miss him? He hasn't been around as P-Chan for a while now, did she miss P-Chan.

Ryoga stood up and walked outside into what he thought was an open field, but turned out to be a vacant lot in some town. He looked around the lot, recognizing it to be Nerima. Ryoga cheered. Perhaps he could actually visit Akane! Ryoga rejoiced as he packed up camp, thinking the gods were smiling at him. He marched his way out of the lot ready to begin his trek to find Akane.

...Only to then be splashed by cold water from an old lady cleaning the street, 5 steps later. Seriously, who was that woman?

Ryoga, now a tiny, black piglet, struggled his way out from under his clothes and his pack. How could he find Akane now? Sure, he's done it before as P-Chan but not without struggle. He pulled his clothes and pack into a nearby alley by his teeth and once again began his hike to find Akane.

As his strange luck would have it, though, there was Akane coming just around the corner. Ryoga ran as fast as his little piggy legs could go until he ran straight into her ankles. Akane turned around and looked down at him and suddenly her eyes lit up and the biggest smile was plastered on her face.

"P-Chan!" She reached down to grab him from the ground and kissed his snout. "How did you get over here?"

"Well, who's this little guy?" An older woman peered over Akane's shoulders.

"This is P-Chan, he's my pet pig," Akane said cheerily.

"Isn't he cute?" the woman said.

"You wanna come shopping with us, baby?" Akane cooed at him.

"Is it alright for him to come into the stops with us?" Ryoga wiggled around in Akane's arms to see who just spoke and saw Nabiki, staring at him skeptically.

"It should be, as long as I carry him. You know he's pretty well behaved." Akane replied as she started walking towards the shops.

The 3 women began walking again and continued on with idle chatter. The older woman, who Ryoga now knew as Ranma's mom according to Akane and Nabiki calling her 'Auntie Saotome,' took them to a small boutique filled with nothing but formal dresses.

"Really, Auntie, this is too much," Akane protested. "It's really not that big of a deal."

"Be quiet, Akane." Nabiki covered Akane's mouth with her hand. "Rule of thumb: always accept the offer for new clothes if someone else is paying for them." Akane slapped Nabiki's hand off of her face.

"While I don't exactly agree with Nabiki's sentiment," started Mrs. Saotome. "I do agree that you are being ridiculous." She look exasperated as she and Nabiki began to thumb through the racks of dresses. "'Not a big deal.' This is the biggest deal of your life, Akane!"

That peaked Ryoga's interest. What on earth were they talking about?

Suddenly Nabiki got extremely excited. "Ooh, Akane what do you think of this dress?" Nabiki pulled out a sleek and short strapless wine-red dress that looked as if the bodice wrapped around the wearer's chest. "It's even on sale!"

"Not in a million years," Akane deadpanned. "You know what kinda dresses I like to wear, Nabiki."

"Well, obviously it's not for you." Nabiki sassed. "It's for me, I think it brings out my eyes."

"Aren't I the one we're supposed to be shopping for? I'm the one getting married after all." Ryoga froze in Akane's arms at her words. The word 'married' ringing in his ears over and over again. He thought he must have misheard her, that he was just being paranoid. Married? Yeah, right. To who? Ranma? No way.

"Well, of course it's your wedding," _Damn it, no, no, no! This could not be happening._ "Which is why I need a dress, too, as your maid of honor," Nabiki declared.

"Kasumi already has dibs."

"What?! since when?"

Before Akane could answer, Ryoga started to squeal and tried to wiggle his way out of Akane's arms. He couldn't take it anymore, the truth right in front of his face. Akane was marrying Ranma. He wouldn't stand for this! He jumped out of Akane's arms and ran for the boutique door. He could hear Akane call out for him but, he wouldn't stop running. He didn't know where he was running to but he refused to stop. He ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore, which happened fairly quickly due to him running into a door. Too tired and hurt, physically and emotionally, to run anymore he sat in front of wherever he was and began to cry with the most obnoxious of squeals until the door in front of him was finally opened by an angry Ukyo Kuonji.

"Would you keep it down out here?! You're disturbing my customers!" She yelled. The cook looked around confused at finding no one there. Ryoga squealed again to get her attention. Ukyo looked down and saw Ryoga, still squealing at her.

"What the- Ryoga, what're you doing here?" Ukyo asked as she picked him up by the bandana. "Hang on, let me get you some hot water." She called for Konatsu to watch the restaurant and took him up to the residential part of her building. She set a kettle on her small stove top and went searching for some clothes for Ryoga to borrow. In the meantime, Ryoga studied the room he was in. It was just a small living space with an attached kitchenette. There wasn't a lot of sign that it was lived in besides a sink full of dirty dishes. Ryoga supposed Ukyo kept all her personal possessions to herself and Konatsu didn't have many at all.

When Ukyo came back the kettle began to boil. She took it off the stove top and poured the water on to the little piglet.

"Alright, so what's wrong with you?" She asked.

"Akane is getting married to Ranma!" He immediately screamed.

Ukyo gasped. "What? When? Where did you hear this?" She interrogated.

"I was with Akane! She was dress shopping with her sister and Ranma's mom. She said they were gonna get married! They were shopping for dresses for their wedding!"

"Would you stop screaming?!"

Ryoga shut his mouth.

"Thank you."

"Why don't you care more? You're engaged to Ranma."

"Who says I don't care?" Ukyo put her hands on her hips in abnegation. "I just don't want you screaming your head off with the shop open. I'm trying to run a good business here."

"You could at least act like it…" Ryoga muttered.

Ukyo shook her head. "Forget about me, why do you care? Don't you have a girlfriend somewhere?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I do and she's absolutely wonderful and everyday I'm thankful to have her in my life."

"Don't you pout at me."

"Who's pouting?" He glared at her.

"Nevermind, just answer the question. Why do you care that Ranma and Akane get married? You don't have anything to lose."

"I'm not trying to gain anything from it. At least not anymore." Ryoga stared down at his lap and clenched his fists. "Akane is one of my first friends. She was the light in a dark tunnel for the longest time and I just want what's best for her and I'm not sure if Ranma is that." Ukyo was shocked. She didn't expect such a… noble answer from him of all things. Though if Ryoga could be described as one word, it would be noble, at least most of the time. But still, she couldn't help but be bothered by those words on behalf of Akane.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Akane can decide what's best for herself," she told him.

"I thought you didn't like Akane."

"Of course I like her! Even if she's engaged to Ranma, we're still friends! Most of the time…"

"Well, what are we gonna do about this?" Ryoga wondered out loud.

"When are they getting married?"

"I don't know."

Ukyo blinked. "I thought Akane told you?"

"Akane didn't tell me anything."

"Then how'd you find out about the wedding?"

"She was talking with Nabiki and she said she was getting married. And then I ran." Then Ukyo hit his head with her battle spatula.

"You were eavesdropping? You jackass!"

"Why are you upset at that!?" Ryoga yelled clutching the top of his head.

Ukyo straightened up. "Well, we should probably stop them as soon as possible. Who knows when they'll be getting married?"

"Right," Ryoga said as he stood up. "I'll take Ranma, you take Akane."

"Oh no you don't," Ukyo glared at him. "I'm not having you hurt my Ran-chan. I'll take Ranma, you take Akane. We'll try to talk them out of it."

Ryoga huffed in frustration and glared back at her. "Fine. But if it doesn't work, I will take him down."

"Fine. One more thing."

"What?"

"For the love of God, please put your clothes on."


End file.
